A Brother's Hate
by Meluivan Indil
Summary: Complete! Fourth Story in the Blood Series. When a blind Atavus ends up missing it is up to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli to find her, before the demons of the past destroy her. TortureAngst.
1. Chapter 1: Minas Tirith

**Disclaimer: **Nothing of the Tolkien universe belongs to me, and I make no profit from this. The only character that belongs to me is Atavus. Please don't borrow her unless you ask.

**Author's Note: **Well originally this was supposed to be the last chapter of _Healer of Rohan,_ but for some reason ffnet would not let me submit it under that story, so it has become the first chapter for my fourth story _A Brother's Hate_. And since Brother's is just a continuation of Healer it doesn't affect much. Sorry if this is confusing.

**Review Responses: **Here are the review responses from chapter 10 of Healer.

**_Karone Evertree:_** You are exactly right. Not confused at all. But then again I'm always confused. Gimli is going to be in the next story so I wanted to tie him in all nice and neat like.

**_Lintered: _**Well I have nothing against death threats. They make me write better. Yeah I'm evil. But I'm so good at it.

**_Slayer3: _**Can I be a member of that fan club. I'm not in love with them, but I'd love to have them for a couple of older brothers. Does that count. Boy I could get into a lot of mischief in that family.

**_Larien:_** Yeah when I first wrote Garin I made him the son of Dwalin from the Hobbit, who is Gimli's cousin. At Moria Gimli said that Balin was his cousin, and since Balin and Dwalin are brothers, there you have it. I knew no one would catch it until Gimli mentioned it though.

I had to leave their parting on a lighter note. I didn't see Atavus as just getting hysterical over her condition. She has faced a lot worse. Blind is better than being an orc. And as far as getting her eyesight back just yet, well……. Maybe you better just read on.

**_LocoChica: _**Oh yes, another new reviewer to torment. Oh sorry I meant talk to. You want more, you got more.

**Minas Tirith**

It was the day of Aragorn's coronation ceremony. He had been crowned, and was more than pleased to find Arwen there. He had saw Lord Elrond nod to her and whisper the words "Go to him." Those were the words he had longed for so long to hear from his foster father, but had never had hope that he would. Now he was ready to rule his kingdom with the woman he loved by his side. The ceremony and feasting afterwards had gone beautifully.

But there was one thing missing, or one person he had expected not present. He needed to find Elrond and ask about Atavus. He began to wonder if his fear that she would not gain her sight had come true. Was she too upset to keep her promise to him? Had she become despondent again? When he finally found Lord Elrond, he could see that Legolas was already speaking to him and the look of concern on his face said more than Aragorn had dreaded.

"Ada, Legolas." Was his less than formal greeting.

Legolas turned to his friend with distress on his face. "Aragorn she never made it back to Rivendell."

The blood drained from Aragorn's face. Never had he imagined that possibility. It had been nearly three months since they parted in Rohan. There was no reason why she should have not made it there. "Ada?"

"I did not know she was coming home. Legolas just told me what happened." Elrond said a dark look spreading across his face. "I will speak to Galadhriel. Maybe her mirror knows." He said walking away.

They knew that Elrond had a way of speaking to the Lady of Lorien, but were not sure what that entailed. But they did realize that he would have to be alone to do so.

Aragorn and Legolas looked at each other with mirroring looks in their eyes. What had happened to their friend? And could they have prevented it somehow? "We should have never let her leave Rohan." Legolas finally admitted.

"How could we have stopped her?" Aragorn asked.

"We should have found a way." Legolas answered.

_

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry so short. It was meant to set up the new story, but since it has become the first chapter of the new story oh well. Oh and manveri I'm gonna need your services soon. I have not forgotten._


	2. Chapter 2: A Father's Vision

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

**Review Responses: **

_invisigoth3_: Nice to see you are still here. I was slightly afraid that I'd lost you along the way. (But then between kids, a husband, school and working at McD's, I'm surprised you have time to breath much less read.) Thanks for staying with me.

_Lintered_: Aw you talk so sweet to me. Now that my orcs back in the picture I get to be really evil.

_Karone Evertree_: Yes there was supposed to be another chapter for Healer, but ffnet would not let me post chapter 11 no matter how hard I tried, and since the chapter was sort of a transitional one between the two stories, I gave up and put it as the first chapter in this fic. So you didn't miss anything, things just got moved around a little. But I was ready to take a shotgun to my pc when I was trying to post that chapter. Anyway I like suspense, and don't worry he'll get his someday. But he does get to play some first.

_Slayer3_: Sign me up. I need to write them into my stories more in the future.

**A Father's Vision**

Lord Elrond stood in a quiet alcove in the top most level of Minas Tirith, concentrating on the mental conversation he was having with Galadhriel. "What do you see my Lady?" He asked impatiently.

"There is nothing Lord Elrond. Did you say that she had lost her sight?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"My mirror is working. But I believe it is letting me see what she sees, which is nothing. There are sounds and noises all around, but they make no sense to me. I'm afraid my mirror is not going to help you. It concentrates on sight and sound, not feeling or thought. Have you tried to use your vision?" She asked after giving her opinion.

"No. Honestly I am afraid to trust it. I am too close. I'm afraid my own emotions will affect what I see." Elrond admitted.

"I think you must try." Were her final words as the connection ended.

He sighed heavily. What if his vision did not tell them where to find her? A growing feeling of dread had been consuming him for many weeks now, but he had put it down to his fear for Arwen because of her decision to lead a mortal life. But it was becoming apparent that his feeling of dread concerned the other woman that he called daughter. What if his vision showed him horrible things happening to her, but did not tell them where to find her? That was how it had been with his wife. He had seen visions of her torment in his mind, but if not for his son's tracking skills they would have never found her in time to save her. Those visions still haunted his mind. But for Atavus he must risk it.

He calmed his breathing concentrating on the image of Atavus he held in his mind. He could feel his mind searching throughout all of Middle-Earth to find her. The vision hit him abruptly, and the sight nearly caused his tenuous connection to her to be severed. He could see her in a dark room with no windows, lit only with torches. Her eyes were blank, but he could see the pain etched on her face. At first it looked as if she was just standing against a wall, but he could see blood pouring down her arms and legs. Where the blood flow started he could see metal spikes sticking out of her skin on each arm and leg. She had been hung basically on the spikes that pierced her skin. The sight was worse than he could have ever imagined.

He could hear a voice off to her right, but could not force the vision to turn that direction. "If you tell me what I want to know, I can stop this. You will never have to feel this pain again."

She said nothing, but turned her head so she could hear the words better.

"Haven't you suffered enough? It's too bad you can't see anything. I had wanted to see the surprised look on your face when you were brought to me. It has been such a long time." The voice taunted her.

"I didn't need to see your face. I'd recognize your voice any day, brother." She hissed.

Elrond flinched at the word brother. They all had thought the orc was truly dead this time. But then the vision made sense. Only that monster hated her enough to torture her like that. "I know you can't see your accommodations, but I thought you would feel more at home here. These walls were both of our homes for quite some time, weren't they?" He asked in almost a nostalgic tone.

"Maybe yours, but never mine." She said defiantly.

"Well get used to them. They will be your home from now on." The orc said angrily.

Elrond's vision was broken then. He sighed deeply with the image of her impaled on the spikes burned into his eyes. But at least he knew where she was.

Aragorn watched his father enter the thrown room. He could see the stressed look that covered his face. "Ada what have you learned?"

"I'm loath to say it but she has been captured. She is being held by someone who hates her unconditionally." Elrond said not mentioning the torture.

"Who?" Aragorn asked.

Legolas had heard the words and knew of only one being who had held that much hate for her. "But we thought he died."

"This isn't the first time we've been wrong." Elrond answered.

The realization of who it had to be hit Aragorn hard. "The orc. Ugluk. Ada are you sure?"

"Positive. I heard her call him brother in my vision." Elrond assured him.

"Was she hurt?" Legolas asked not really sure if he wanted to know.

How could he tell them of what he saw? He could barely cope with the image himself. But it would be up to them to find her, and they would see for themselves. "Yes." Was his quiet reply.

"How?" Legolas asked.

"Her legs and arms are impaled on steel spikes coming out of the wall." It took great effort to utter those words but he could see the anger that it ignited in the men present. "You must remain calm. There is hope. I know where she is being held." Elrond tried to assure them.

"Where?"

"Minas Morgul." He said the dark words. He still remembered a better time when it had been called Minas Ithil and was ruled by the kings of Gondor.

"One last question Ada. Her sight?" Aragorn asked.

Elrond just shook his head remembering the blank stare she had held in his vision.

"We ride immediately." Aragorn said insistently.

"But Estel your kingdom." Elrond started to object.

"Has gone many years without a king, and can withstand a short while longer. Right now this is more important Ada. I will leave Faramir in charge." Aragorn said giving orders to those around him. He planned on being prepared for anything.

He noticed Gimli standing to the side waiting patiently for him to finish giving orders. "Gimli my friend I can not ask you to accompany us. You have already done more than your share for the people of Middle-earth."

"Do you know what my cousin Garin would do to me if I did not try to help his friend?" Gimli said in jest, but he was dead serious about joining them. "I still follow where you lead my friend."

"Thank you, my friend." Aragorn said.

_

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry I know it's another short chapter but I promise the next will be longer. Next chapter Atavus vs. Ugluk. I can't wait._


	3. Chapter 3: First Encounters

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

**Review Responses: **

_invisigoth3_: You won't believe where I'm going. Just wait. You'll see.

_manveri mirkiel_:

Healer 9: No plot bunny this time. The blind thing just came to me. It wasn't originally intended, but it does tend to make things more complicated don't you think?

Healer 10: Yes I am going to write you that email. Just got distracted by a cranky website. And no Atavus is not psychic, just very perceptive about people. And yes she tries to be optimistic. I see her as the sort who when they are doing their worst and nothing else can go wrong, she tends to overcompensate by encouraging others. Tissues, tissues and more tissues for manveri.

Brother 1: Well Atavus is going to have something else to occupy her time. Yes that's a hint, and no I'm not going to tell anymore. (Ducks as twin starts throwing stuff.) So yes Ugluk is all yours.

Brother 2: I just had to. It's such a good torture method. Okay your squeamish about blood but you'll chew on an orc. That's just gross. Anyway yes Atavus vs. Ugluk, plus the appearance of a couple of new characters.

_Karone Evertree_: Yes I'm afraid our poor Atavus is still blind. But she's still Atavus too. Yes ffnet is beginning to try my patience. I was so relieved that it let me post the last chapter. I was just sure it wouldn't.

_Lintered_: Yes I do have an odd mind. Thank you. Don't ask where it came from. I don't know. But I can take almost any statement and turn it into an evil plot bunny, as my reviewers have discovered. Active imagination, and too much time on my hands I guess.

**First Encounters**

"I forget brother, what exactly was it you wanted from me? Was it the location of Rivendell? No wait a minute that was last time. I don't remember you telling me what it was this time." She said in a quizzical tone. She knew that if she did not show her pain it would infuriate the orc, and at the moment it sounded like a good idea. She blocked the pain from her mind using her old trick of imagining killing him over and over again. My that was satisfying, even if it wasn't real.

"I want to know any information you might have learned about why you are the way you are. What is it that makes you a throwback?" The orc repeated the sentence yet again.

And she gave him the same answer as before. "How the hell should I know?"

"You have to know something. You've been living with those elves. They are smart, and they would want to pick you apart like an experiment. You have to have learned something." The orc growled at her approaching to within inches of where she was pinned to the wall.

"It's all in the blood, brother." She hissed back, knowing that it angered him to be called that.

"That is no answer freak." He said backhanding her. She could feel the blood running down her chin from her busted lip.

"Well it's the only one you are getting from me." She whispered.

"You'll change your mind, eventually." He also whispered.

"What makes you think that?" She said chuckling. "You killed the elf who accompanied me, so you have no leverage to use against me this time. You know I won't break no matter how much damage you do to me."

"I don't need your friends. I have even better leverage this time, but that will wait until later." He stepped back motioning for two orcs to remove her from the spikes holding her to the wall. She slumped to the floor when her own legs would not hold her there.

"Manveri you take care of her." He ordered and then left the room.

"Yes master." She heard a feminine voice say. Her arms and legs refused to move. The muscle tissue would need time to heal.

She heard a door open. "Van bring me water and bandages." She heard the voice say to someone in the hall.

She could feel the cool water on her bruised skin and it felt good. "Why don't you just tell him what he wants?"

"If I knew I would." She said sarcastically. "Then again, no I wouldn't, but since I don't know it doesn't matter now does it?" Atavus smiled when she heard the snort from the other woman.

She gathered enough strength to reach up and touch the woman's face. "Your not an orc." She said surprised.

Manveri had the urge to move away, but stopped it. What could it hurt? "No I'm not." She answered continuing to clean the wounds and bandage them.

"Manveri is she going to be okay?" A small voice to her right asked.

"Yes Van she will be okay. She has the healing gift." Manveri explained.

"Oh. I see." The child's voice said again, as if it did not surprise him. "So she's one of us."

Those words shocked Atavus more than anything else she could have learned. "What does he mean?" She asked.

"Did you really believe you were the only one?" Manveri asked, making a tisking noise. "No there are many actually. None as old as you I believe, but we are many."

"But how? I was told that my kind had faded out over the years." She said in confusion.

"Well there are a few of us like me who are only a several hundred years old, but there are many more like Van here. Something has happened in say the last hundred years. Many more of us are being born, and since the demise of the great eye just a few months ago no orc child has been born. All new ones are like us." The woman explained. That was the last thing Atavus had expected to be told.

"Yes and the orcs are angry." The boy said in a small voice.

"I understand why." No matter how much pain she was in, the thought of Ugluk being told that all new orc children were like her, brought a great sense of warmth to her heart. Nothing she could have ever done would have vexed him more.

"But what does he think to accomplish by information from me?" She didn't understand what he needed her for.

"He said that he saw one of us change once. He said her eyes turned black, and her skin changed. He must have been speaking of you. He believes that he can learn from you a way to change us all into orcs." Manveri explained.

She remembered it then. When she had stabbed him in the Misty Mountain caves. He must have seen her eyes changing before she even knew it herself. She did have the information he wanted, but she knew she must never give it to him. "I see." She answered, not ever intending to discuss it further.

* * *

Against the better judgment of the Captain of Gondor Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli went ahead on horseback to scout out the area around Minas Morgul. A group of Gondorian Warriors, and a few of the Rangers that were Aragorn's kin were to follow at a walking pace.

Minas Morgul was surrounded by the woods of Northern and Southern Ithilien on three sides, and was backed by the pass of Cirith Ungol leading into the land of Mordor. It was still very well guarded seeing as how the orcs who survived the destruction of Sauron had retreated there. The three friends scouted around the sides that were surrounded by woods, keeping well hidden in the shadows.

"I have a plan." Aragorn suggested when they had met back up.

Legolas looked to Gimli with one eyebrow raised. Usually Aragorn's plans ended with someone getting injured, but they were willing to listen. "Yes."

"On the southern side of the fortress the Morgulduin runs from Mordor. There is a drainage tunnel in the base of the wall. If we can manage to get inside that tunnel, we could get in and try to free her." Aragorn suggested.

"And what happens when your men arrive and we are nowhere to be found?" Gimli asked seeing the flaw in his friends plan.

"That's where you come in Gimli. Legolas and I will go in, and you will stay out here to give my orders." Aragorn smiled brightly.

"And what orders might those be?" Gimli asked not sure if he liked the idea.

"I want them to lay siege to Minas Morgul. I want it completely destroyed." Aragorn said quietly.

"But you'll still be in there." Gimli said flustered.

"Ah but the siege will give us what we need the most." Aragorn winked at Legolas.

"And what might that be?" Gimli said knowing he definitely did not like this plan.

Legolas answered for him. "A diversion."

"You like that word, don't you?" Gimli accused. "And if you are caught, and this little diversion gets you killed."

"Then you have to explain it to Gandalf." Legolas suggested.

"Oh no, not me."

"Yes you." Aragorn insisted. "But don't worry it will work. A siege can last for several days. We will have plenty of time to get out."

"When do you plan on sneaking in to that place?" Gimli asked.

"At nightfall."

* * *

_Author's Note: So what do you think of the two new characters? Oh and it felt so good to have Atavus smarting off to Ugluk again. I missed that._


	4. Chapter 4: Sneaking

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

**Review Responses: **

_invisigoth3: _I'm trying my hardest to imagine Ugluk as happy go lucky. Not. The evil grin gets in the way.

_Karone Evertree_: I have to admit there is much more to the new characters than anyone might imagine.

_Slayer3_: And you shall have more.

_manveri mirkiel_: You just think too much like me. I guess that's why I made your character a throwback like Atavus. Oh but there is much more to Manveri than anyone knows yet. No I'm not telling. As far as Atavus' age I'm thinking of her at about 1800. I'm not sure why but that seems like a good age. Not ancient for an elf, but not young either. I see Atavus to be about 24 in human years, which is slightly younger than where I would put Legolas. Manveri has just reached adulthood, say around 18, and Van I would put at about 8. I have found very little concerning how elves age, so I am just doing this on a wing and a prayer. In other words guessing.

As far as Manveri turning into an orc, I don't think so. If you remember one condition that was present when Atavus started to change, was major blood loss. So hope I don't wound you too bad before you strike. Mrhahaha.

Yes I had to throw in some Legolas Gimli interaction. It's so much fun to watch.

_Larien_: I hate to admit it but I like this better than Healer too. What's bad is when I started writing Atavus' story Healer is what was in my head. But I got distracted and ended up with Blood and Journey first, both of which I enjoyed greatly. Now I'm back to writing typical Atavus with Brother, and I'm happy again. I think having a specific enemy like Ugluk is what makes these three more interesting than Healer. Anyway yes I have more planned for the throwbacks so it's back to writing again.

_Lintered_: I never tried the diversion tactic. I always managed to find a legit reason to skip. Came in handy when you got caught.

_mindless drone_: My own words from chapter 6 of Blood For the Taking

_I think I should make a statement before I go any further. I know I am picturing the three friends as becoming very close, but this is not a romance. I am writing friendship only. Now let's see if we can find out how our friend Aragorn is fairing._

Does that answer your question? And I do not want to offend you, but can you please refrain from using the word _shagging _when speaking about my characters. I don't believe this is an Austin Powers fanfic. I really think that the friendship between the three is much more important than romance, or sex. Sorry if I disappoint you.

**Sneaking**

As Aragorn and Legolas entered the drainage tunnel running under Minas Morgul Legolas could not help the coughing gesture the smell caused. "Aragorn you do take me to the best of places _mellon_."

"It is just smell. It will go away eventually." Aragorn defended.

Legolas looked down at the brackish water they were wading through. "Eventually."

"Would you like me to tell Atavus that you changed your mind about rescuing her because the smell offended you?" Aragorn suggested.

"If offensive smells determined who I spent time with you and I would have never have become friends. Shall we move on?" Legolas suggested after the veiled insult.

Aragorn knew his friends worry was behind the need for friendly bantering. He understood that. What else could explain the conversations he had overheard between the elf and dwarf during times of great distress? And since the dwarf had been left behind the bantering had been passed on to him to continue, which he gratefully obliged. "Prissy elf." He whispered just loud enough.

"Smelly human." He heard from behind him. He just chuckled. Then raised his hand for quiet. They had come to a grate in the ceiling that had light shining down upon them. Small amounts of water and what looked like blood dripped from the grate. They could hear speaking.

"Is that meat finished yet? They are getting rather loud out there." A woman's voice was heard.

"If you can call it meat yes." A voice answered the first.

"Hey if they like, and I don't have to eat it why should I care?" The first voice came back.

"True." A soft chuckle left the second woman.

At that point the two left and Aragorn pushed up on the grate. It took all his strength to move the rusted metal. After climbing through the hole and replacing the grate they looked around the room they were in. It was a kitchen. Dank, dark and dirty, but a kitchen nonetheless. There were two doors heading out of the room. One was in the direction that the women had left the room the other the opposite way. They decided to go away from where the women had went, but Aragorn paused for a moment as he noticed something familiar in a bowl on one counter.

"Ai, not even orcs can be that disgusting." He swore.

"What?" Legolas asked looking at the green look on his friends face.

Aragorn swallowed holding out the bowl so Legolas could see. The color drained from the elf's face. "Food must be in short supply." Legolas suggested turning away from the bowl of leeches.

Legolas led them out the door cautiously checking for any sign of movement in the hall. It was deserted.

"Why does it seem so quiet here?" Aragorn asked. He remembered the time they had spent in Dol Guldur. That fortress had been swarming with slaves and orcs. But Minas Morgul seemed almost deserted. "There were many orcs on patrol outside."

"It seems maybe they stay outside for the most part." Legolas suggested.

"Maybe. But why?"

* * *

Atavus sat next to the wall waiting for her strength to come back to her. Manveri and Van had left what seemed like hours before. She was completely alone. As her strength began to return she stood and made her way around the room she had been left in. She felt along the wall. There were chains with manacles placed every few feet on one wall. The next wall held the metal spikes she had been hung from earlier. She could smell old blood which she was sure was crusted to the wall. The other two walls were completely bare. She moved into the center of the room and found two tables. They were identical in height and build. They were made of stone and she could feel the leather straps attached to them. An eerie thought started to penetrate her mind. She was in the torture pit below Minas Morgul. Her first thought was that she was in a cell on the upper level, but no this was one of the pits, themselves. But where were the screams? Where was the sound of lash on skin? Where were those sounds she had learned to tune out when it came her turn to visit the pit? There were no sounds.

Except one, she thought turning towards the door as it opened. "Ah I see you are up and moving about." The orc voice resonated through the room. He could see that her hand still rested on the leather strap. "And you have found an old friend. Do you remember what it was like to be on that table? You have been here often in the past."

"I remember, but something is different now." She said moving her head around still wondering at the lack of sound.

"I can't imagine what." The orc said slamming the door behind him.

"Where are your other prisoners?" She asked the curiosity getting the best of her.

"You are the only one." He answered.

She could never imagine Minas Morgul without prisoners. She put her hand to her nose catching a whiff or something. Dust. The tables were covered with it. She said nothing wanting to think through what was in her mind, and speak to Manveri before she wondered aloud about the differences of this place.

"Now are you ready to tell me what I want to know?" He asked in an almost pleasant voice.

"Why do you want to know about me? The last I thought you wanted me dead. You've got me here. I'm at a distinct disadvantage due to my eyes. You could kill me and I wouldn't even see it coming." She was baiting him again. She couldn't let him know that she knew what he wanted.

"You keep managing to avoid my question freak. You talk around what I want to know. Never quite touching the true subject. I may be an orc, but I'm not an imbecile." He called her bluff.

"So you think orcs are imbecile's. What would your followers think of that?" She tried turning the conversation another way.

"They know what I think. They still obey. Things have changed. With no almighty master to rule they follow who ever is the strongest, and smartest. That would be me." She actually believed he was bragging to her. That was fine. She had an idea that would change his bragging tone.

"Have you ever wondered dear brother why you are so smart compared to the others? Why you are not content to follow, why you want to be the one in charge. You're not like them. Hell if you didn't look like one of them you'd be just like me. A throwback." She could hear the low growling sound emanating from him, but continued on. "Just think about it; your parents had two of us. You're the odd man out, so to speak. So who's really the freak?" She taunted.

She knew what her taunts would lead to, but they were the only way she could lead his attention away from the real reason he was questioning her.

She felt his hand grab her wrist and twist it. He had been quicker than she had thought was possible for an orc. She tried to pull free kicking out to defend herself, but he blocked the kick with a strong leg. She felt his other hand grab her neck slamming her sideways into the stone table. When her stomach impacted the table she began to see stars in her mind. Maybe she wasn't quite healed enough to take him on just yet she thought to herself. But his rage was still present and he wasn't done with her yet. With his hand still on the back of her neck he slammed her face into the stone. He let go of her then as her body slumped to the floor beside the table.

He could see that her eyes had closed. He hadn't wanted to knock her unconscious. She could not talk that way. He reached out feeling her chest. She was still breathing. At least he hadn't killed her. He cursed his own temper then, and he cursed her knowing then that he had done just what she wanted him to do. As he left the room he bellowed a name. "Manveri." He knew he wouldn't have to say anything else. The throwback woman sometimes knew what he wanted before he asked.

She rushed through the halls past him with her eyes down, heading in the direction he had come from. When she entered the pit she saw the unconscious woman on the floor. "Why do you try his temper so much?" She asked the unconscious woman as she pulled her body closer to the wall where a torch was burning.

"Because I can." The not so unconscious woman answered.

Manveri dropped her head startled and heard the thunk it made as it hit the floor.

"Ouch. I thought you wanted to help me not hurt me." She said reaching up rubbing her head.

"I thought you were unconscious. You scared me." Manveri said helping her sit up.

"I was, but for some reason I always know when someone's talking about me. My friends find it quite disturbing." She explained.

"I can understand. I'm assuming you don't want him to know that though." She asked.

"No that's something I think we should keep to ourselves. I think I'm safer when he thinks I'm completely out." Atavus agreed.

"Okay. Stay there. I need some water. You've got blood all over your face." Manveri said standing and heading to the door. The door wasn't locked and she thought maybe a warning should be given. "The doors on this level are never locked, but the door leading to the upper levels is, so don't go wandering okay. There's not much down here to see."

"Manveri there is no use you telling me that. I grew up here. I know how it goes. And what would I see anyway?" She said smiling slightly at the joke she made at her own expense.

"Nothing I guess." Manveri answered leaving the room.

Atavus reached up feeling her face. Her forehead was sliced where she had impacted the table. Head wounds always bled profusely she knew. She could feel the blood cascading down and into her useless eyes. She tried to rub the blood away, but ended up just making it worse. He eyes began to sting. She held the lids closed waiting for Manveri to return with water. She heard the door open again. "It looks bad this time Veri." She heard the boy say.

"It's not that bad Van. Clean the blood away and do some stitching and she'll be as good as new."

Manveri saw that she was holding her eyes shut tightly. "What's wrong?" She asked kneeling in front of Atavus.

"Got blood in my eyes. It stings is all." Atavus answered. "Stitch me up first otherwise the blood will just keep flowing." She suggested.

"Alright." Manveri answered wiping as much of the blood and dust away from the cut. "I don't have anything for pain." She said knowing it would hurt.

"Just stitch. Let me worry about it." Atavus said taking a deep breath clearing her mind.

"Okay." She answered pulling out a needle and thread from a small bag she carried. She went as fast as she could knowing that Atavus just wanted it over with. Ten stitches were all it took and she was confident that the wound would heal without a scar. "Now lets wash this blood away." She said taking a cloth out and dipping it in the cool water. She could see that Atavus' eyes were watering.

"Let me do this." Atavus suggested. She knew the cloth would only do so much towards removing the blood. She got to her knees and held her hair back as she dunked her face into the large pale of water.

"Well that's one way to do it." She heard Van giggle.

She opened her eyes under the water and used a hand to rub at them making sure to remove the blood. The stinging wasn't completely gone, but most of it was. She pulled her head out and sat down next to the wall again. Manveri handed her a cloth to dry her face with. As she pulled the cloth away she opened her eyes. And was startled to see light above her.

Manveri saw the movement of her eyes upwards. "Do you see something?"

"Everything was dark, but now I see the light." She answered looking around her to see if she could see anything else. Everything was blurry but yes she could see outlines of the two people with her, and the tables in the middle of the room. "By the Valar. How can this be?" She whispered.

Manveri paused thinking for a moment. "Those of us that heal can use their own blood to heal others. I've seen it. Maybe when your blood got in your eyes it did something to them. You said they were stinging."

"But there's blood all around your eyes, and in them. Why wouldn't they heal from the inside?" Atavus asked.

Van spoke up then with words that were simple, but made more sense than anything she could imagine. "Maybe the part that was damaged was on the outside."

"Maybe." She whispered. She just knew that with every passing second her eyesight became better. She gave silent thanks to Estë for the gift. But then she thought of something. "Please don't tell Ugluk. Maybe if he thinks I'm still blind it will work to my advantage." She begged silently to agree.

"Don't worry about us. We have no reason to tell him anything." Manveri answered.

"Thank you."

_

* * *

Author's Note: I think I just made alot of people very happy. Maybe._


	5. Chapter 5: Family Secrets

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter 1.

_Slayer3:_ I like happy dance.

_Lintered:_ Yeah I can relate. I had a lot of teachers fooled too.

_bob the great:_ Nice to see a new reviewer. I love you guys, and am glad to make you happy.

_Karone Evertree:_ Mrhaha. Cryptic me? Never. Don't worry this chapter will answer your question. Yeah I imagined Legolas and Aragorn sneaking in and that line hit me. I just had to. The leeches thing was just too hard to resist. I love gross. I watch Fear Factor just to see what they are gonna eat next. Yes Atavus is getting her sight back. Yeah!

_ashlyns_: All these new reviewers. I'm ecstatic. Original is what I was going for. I'm glad you like Atavus. And I'm glad to say that I am pretty good at updating quick. Too much free time on my hands. I actually counted today and I have written 47 chapters in 2 months and 5 days. Whoa I definitely have too much free time. That's what happens when you stop sleeping.

_FFAMasquerade2005_: Okay now I am blushing. Wait a minute I'm evil. Evil isn't supposed to blush. Yeah right. Uhhh. Thanks.

**Family Secrets**

"You said it would be easy to find her." Legolas said as they turned yet another corner finding another set of steps leading down.

"How was I supposed to know this place went down so far into the ground? It looks small from the outside." Aragorn said listening intently to the shouts from above. Gimli had forwarded his orders to his men, and they had commenced the attack hours before.

"I just hope this place doesn't collapse before we find her." Legolas said sighing heavily. They had been walking down level by level for hours now. To his surprise they hadn't ran into even one orc, while searching the cells and torture pits they found.

"You're just upset because we are underground." Aragorn suggested. He knew Legolas had a great dread of caves, and anyplace that was underground away from nature and sunlight. And even though Sauron was gone the evil that had permeated Minas Morgul still was present within its walls.

"Aragorn if I could travel through Moria this should be easy." Legolas pointed out.

"Moria wasn't the same. The Balrog was its source of evil. But this place is evil Legolas." Aragorn observed.

"Yes I know. I don't understand how Atavus lived here for so long. No pure soul should have to withstand this for long." Legolas said making sure not to touch the walls. When he did it was as if he could hear screams from the past.

* * *

Manveri woke from the dream with sweat pouring down her frame. She hadn't had one of those dreams in such a long time. She had wondered if they had stopped all together. She knew she couldn't go to the pits until the orc called for her, but she had to tell Atavus what she had seen.

So she made her way to the pits hiding in one of the empty torture rooms near to where Atavus was being held, and then waited for the orc's visit to be over. She could hear his angry voice echoing through the pits. This would be a bad one.

"Why do you do this? All you have to do is tell me what I want and you will never feel pain again." The orc said angrily, staring at her blank eyes. He needed the information soon. The humans would breach his defenses within a few days, and he planned to be long gone before that. They could have the disgusting orcs for all he cared as long as he made it out with what he wanted.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She stated in a tight voice. He had brought orcs with him this time and they had manacled her to the wall, and then left their captain to his fun. Her ribs were on fire where he had been striking her with a burning club. Her tunic was singed where the embers had melted the material to her skin, and she could see sparks flying up as the club landed again against her stomach. She did not follow the sparks with her eyes, wanting him to believe she could see nothing still. But she could see clearer than ever before now.

The pain was unbelievable. Worse than she ever remembered from before. But she imagined him lying dead at her feet, and the vision was like a salve to her burning skin. "Why don't you tell me about our brother, Ugluk. You've said little about him." She said smiling knowing that the words would distract him from his true intentions.

"He was worthless, and now he's dead. What else do you want to know?" He shouted turning to throw the burning club to the ground. She could see the frustrated look on his face and grinned evilly enjoying how much she could play on his emotions.

"What did he look like?" She asked.

He turned to her not believing she could just sit there and have a normal conversation after he had burnt her so badly. She had masked the look on her face replacing it with a blank stare. "He looked like you." Was his response before he turned and left the room. For a moment she saw a pained expression on his face that made no sense to her.

"Manveri." She heard him yell as he strode angrily down the hall.

"Now that's an orc with serious family issues." She chuckled to herself.

"Atavus." Manveri rushed into the room with a distressed look on her face. The orc had tossed her the keys to the manacles as he passed her in the hall. She quickly removed the chains and helped her sit down.

"Help me with this." Atavus said pulling pieces of her tunic from the burnt skin on her stomach and ribs. She hissed in pain as pieces of skin pulled free also.

"We have burn cream. I'll have Van bring some down here." Manveri said standing.

"I don't know if he should see this Veri." She said using the nickname she had heard Van use, the night before.

"He's seen worse. Besides he's like you. He has the healing ability. He'll make a fine healer some day." Manveri insisted.

The night before her sight hadn't been very clear. But now she could see those that were helping her. Manveri was small in stature, and form. But she had the fair skin and hair of the Silvan elves. She reminded her of Legolas as she stared into the bright blue eyes. Then there was Van. He was a mystery to her. He had bright red curly hair as she did. She wondered how many of the new throwbacks had developed that trait. It was definitely not an elvish trait.

"Where are the others of our kind that you spoke of?" Atavus asked after the burns were treated.

"They live in the lowest level here. Only a few of us stay in the upper levels." Manveri said looking away.

"Why?" Atavus asked, seeing the woman's distress.

"Ugluk can't bear to see them. He allows me to remain up top to care for Van." She answered still avoiding Atavus' gaze.

"I'm confused." Atavus said looking at the small boy.

"He won't make his own son live below." Manveri said looking at the boy with a measure of pain in her eyes. Atavus could see the boys face lower in shame. Atavus could think of nothing to say at the confession. "He's the reason Ugluk tries so hard to get the information from you. He wants his son to be normal he says."

"He's never asked me what I want." The boy said angrily.

"Van is short for Atavan, the male version of your name. He told me once that the boy looked just like you. It made him angry." Manveri explained.

She understood it all then. The orc was obsessed with changing his son. Not only did the boy look like her, but going by his earlier words he must also look like the brother Ugluk had killed. She understood the pained expression she had seen earlier.

"Does he care for him at all or is he just obsessed with the orc son he didn't get?" She knew the question would possibly upset the boy, but she had to know.

She was surprised when the boy answered himself. "I am nothing to him if I can not be what he wants." The boy had learned that hard lesson way too early in life. "Is it true that you hold the key to what he wants for me?" The boy said in pure dread.

"Possibly yes." She answered not wanting to lie to the boy. She placed her hands on his shoulders looking into his emerald eyes. "I promise Van I will never give him that information. You deserve better than that."

"Thank you." The boy said somberly.

"I'm afraid there may be a problem with that." Manveri suggested remembering her dream from earlier.

"Why?" Atavus asked.

"We have unexpected company coming." The woman answered.

"What?"

"I see things Atavus. Each of us has a different gift. Some are healers, some have extra sensitive senses, and then there are those like me. I see things. I have visions. Sometimes they come to me in dreams. I saw two men searching Minas Morgul. One was a blond elf, the other a dark haired human. I think they are looking for you." Manveri explained.

"Legolas and Estel." Atavus said chewing her lip. "How did they know where to find me?" Then she thought about Manveri having visions and it reminded her of Elrond. "Ada." She whispered.

"Friends of yours?" Manveri asked.

"The best." She answered the smile crossing her face. "Hope is restored."

She saw Manveri shaking her head. "In my vision they were captured. It didn't look good for them."

The smile turned into a frown. "That can't happen Manveri. They are our only hope."

"You shouldn't rely on others for help. I have learned the hard way only to count on myself." Manveri said skeptically.

"There is a different world out there that you have never seen Veri. I have. And there are people who can be trusted with your very life. Legolas and Estel are that way." Atavus tried to convince her of something she had learned after leaving Minas Morgul. "I believed as you did when I first left this hell. I didn't know about the great wonders of Middle-Earth, or about the other races of this great land that contained beings like my friends."

"I don't understand your feelings for these outsiders. They are not of our race. I have learned to only trust your own." Manveri insisted.

"They are my own. They have accepted me as their family. They are as brothers to me. Manveri I would die for them, and them for me." She didn't know what else to say to convince her.

"Veri believe her. I do." Van said placing a hand on each woman's forearm calming the tension that was growing.

Manveri turned to Van smiling. "You are a good judge of character little one." Atavus could see the look of undisguised love that the woman held for the child.

"How came you to be caring for him?" Atavus asked.

Manveri smiled sending Van off to the kitchen to find some food for Atavus, and then turned to answer her question.

"What was the penalty for giving birth to a throwback when you were born?" She asked.

"The boys mother." Atavus said realizing what the words meant. "But what of Ugluk? He should have been killed also."

"He killed her himself to please the master. Then he started collecting our kind bringing them here." Veri said with a coldness in her voice. "He gave the child to me to care for. After Sauron was defeated Ugluk returned to rule here, sending out hundreds of orcs to find you."

"That must have happened soon after I left Minas Morgul. I was the only one here at the time." Atavus realized how close she had been to finding the others, but if she hadn't left she would have never been accepted into the family of Lord Elrond, and never would have discovered her talent as a healer. She would find a way to take them away from this evil place even if it killed her to do so. She vowed it to herself.

_

* * *

Author's Note: All the wonderful reviews spurred me to write this chapter sooner than normal. When you feel creative go with it. It doesn't always last._


	6. Chapter 6: Nightmares Can Come True

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

**Review Responses: **

_invisigoth3_: No, no, no he's pleased as punch. Yeah right.

_Lintered_: I never did explain how he survived did I? Hmmm. Plot bunny just hit me. You'll see.

_Slayer3_: All right put down the elves before you hurt them. Calm, calm, calm.

_Karone Evertree_: Yes that is where the witch king ruled. But in the movie you don't see much of it, so I'm just imagining it in my own twisted mind. But book wise is located right near the pass that Frodo, Sam, and Gollum take, which is further south of the Black Gate.

Yes poor Van. The kid already is developing a complex, but at least he has Veri and Atavus.

_ashlyns_: I have always seen Legolas as extremely perceptive when it comes to evil. Look at the way he felt when he first met Atavus in Ithilien.

_Larien_: Aragorn makes a great ruler, but I always thought he would feel more comfortable with friends out in the wilds. He is the type of ruler who doesn't just sit back and command. He takes the reins and rushes in at the lead himself. And as far as Ugluk being a father, it takes a lot more than just creating a child to be a father. That's something he doesn't know.

_**Author's Note**: I guess since I'm on a roll I well as post another chapter. Well as, since today is my wedding anniversary and my husband is out of town until tomorrow night. Not fair. But anyway I will stop feeling sorry for myself and write on._

**Nightmares Can Come True**

Aragorn and Legolas came to another door which they were sure would lead to another level of the torture pits. "We've been searching for an entire day. How far along do you think the siege has progressed?" Legolas asked trying to pull the door open but discovering it was locked.

"I'm not sure, the troops that followed were not in massive numbers. So they wouldn't completely overwhelm the orc forces." He answered looking around for a set of keys to the door. "I don't see the keys this time. We are going to have to get through that door another way."

"What do you suggest?" Legolas asked.

"Normally if we had time I would suggest waiting for someone to come open it and then jump them, but since that is not possible…." He looked around for something to batter the door down with. There was a bench a few paces down the hall. He returned to it picking it up, and then headed back to the door.

"If you want to get caught that's a sure way to do so." They turned hearing a female voice coming from a nearby hallway.

Legolas' bow and Aragorn's sword were drawn within seconds. "Show yourself unless you want an arrow in your gut."

They watched as a petit woman moved from the shadows. She was wearing a hooded cloak that covered most of her head and face. She held her hands out showing that they held no weapon. "I am unarmed."

"Who are you?" Aragorn asked only lowering his sword slightly.

"A friend, of a friend." She answered cryptically.

"And where might that friend be?" Legolas asked.

"She is beyond that door and in one of the torture rooms." The woman answered.

"Do you have the key to the door?" Aragorn asked.

"No. He normally doesn't lock me out, but he is in a particularly angry mood. I have to wait here until he is done. Then he will summon me to care for her." She explained.

"The orc. Ugluk." Legolas spat the word.

"Yes."

"So you work for him." Legolas strode forward pulling one of his bone-handled knives and placing it to her throat pushing her against the wall.

"No. I am a prisoner here." She said reaching up and pushing her hood back revealing her elvish features to them.

Legolas looked into eyes that matched his own, and was at a loss for a moment. He pulled his knife back. "Who are you?"

"Just a slave of Mordor, and Atavus' friend. That is all that is important." She answered. "I came to warn you. You are in danger. If you continue on this course you will be captured."

Aragorn looked the woman over but didn't know whether to trust her or not. "Why should we trust you?"

"Atavus does." She said smiling at the questioning look they gave her. "But she knew you wouldn't so she said to remind you of something. She said to tell you if you wanted she could pick you up some pets while here. Whatever that means."

Legolas burst into hysterical laughter. "That's if the orcs don't eat them all first."

"She would remind me of that." Aragorn chuckled.

The look on the woman's face said she didn't want to know what they spoke of.

"Well how do you suggest we get in there then?" Aragorn asked after the laughter subsided.

"Exactly the way you dismissed a few moments ago. We wait for Ugluk to leave, while you hide in the shadows. I will go on to the cell, and you can follow when he is gone." She suggested.

"Can she withstand his visit?" Legolas asked.

"He doesn't want her dead. Just information that she won't give." Manveri assured them.

* * *

"My patience is growing thin sister." The orc said in a frustrated tone.

"Why brother, are you going soft on me? I do believe that is the first time you ever called me that." She said sweetly. Too sweetly.

She could see the scowl cross his face. He reached out grabbing her by her hair forcing his face close to hers. "Soft is not a word I would suggest you use while talking about me freak." He hissed in her ear, and then slammed her head into the wall behind where she hung from the manacles. For a moment she saw stars from the impact.

Then he backed away. "Do you understand what I will be forced to do if you don't speak. I know by now Manveri has told you of the others on the lower levels. Do I have to bring some of them up here? It would not bother me at all to torture them as you listen to the screams. Can you listen to me torture others like you? Women, children. Think about it." He turned then leaving her behind. She was surprised. He had barely tortured her that time. Just a few punches, but he was beginning to understand what it would take to break her.

She felt the warm trickle of blood running down her neck, and knew the back of her head was bleeding. But that meant little to her. No matter how much he threatened her, her spirits would not falter knowing that her friends were near.

* * *

They were surprised to hear the key turn in the lock to the door they stood by. Aragorn and Legolas stepped back into the shadows that Manveri had hidden in earlier. Manveri looked expectantly at the door as it opened.

Ugluk nearly ran into her. "She's not that bad today. She won't need you." He growled.

"Maybe I should check her just in case." She suggested. She had to get him to leave that door unlocked.

He looked at her a moment then remembered hitting Atavus' head against the wall. Maybe she would be needed. But why was the woman being persistent. "Go ahead." He ordered her tossing the keys to the manacles to the woman.

Manveri nodded walking past him and following her normal route to where Atavus was being held. When she entered the room she saw that Atavus was standing next to the wall. She truly wasn't hurt that bad. "That was close. He nearly didn't let me come down today." She said crossing over and removed the manacles.

Then they heard noises coming from down the hall. It sounded like fighting. Atavus immediately headed into the hall, but was pushed back by the figures in close combat outside the door. She could see that Legolas and Aragorn were outnumbered three to one, and she didn't have a weapon.

As the body of an orc was thrown into her she sprawled backwards on the floor, with the creature on top of her. She felt the orc being pulled off her and was about to thank the friend responsible when she felt the iron grip encircle her wrist. "You are going nowhere, and neither are your friends." She resisted the urge to look at the face leering down at her. She had to keep the pretense of her charade as long as possible.

He hauled her to her feet swinging her around in front of him and placing a dagger to her throat. "Elf, human. Stop where you are or she dies." He yelled to the combatants.

She kept her eyes on the floor not wanting them to realize she could see and give her secret away. Legolas and Aragorn froze and turned to see her being held by Ugluk.

"Come in here and throw your weapons in the corner." Ugluk commanded.

They looked to each other and then complied. Several more orcs entered the room taking them to the stone slabs and forcing them to lie on them, strapping them in.

Atavus watched in horror as her friends complied. She wanted to scream at them to fight. Not to allow him to gain that kind of control over her. But she kept silent. "Well isn't this a grand reunion?" He whispered into her ear.

"You tell me." She hissed back.

"Oh I forgot. You can't see them. Why don't you two say hello to your dear friend so she knows you are here." He suggested in a rather jovial mood.

They both remained silent. "No. Don't want to talk huh? That's all right." He said moving Atavus forward so she was pushed against the stone table that Legolas was strapped to. "Reach your hand out sister dear, and find what will finally break you."

She refused to move. She didn't have to feel him to see him there. She shook her head. When he saw she wasn't going to comply he forcefully shoved her hand at the elf's face. Her hand lay on Legolas' cheek. She knew she had to keep up the pretense, so she felt his face, as a blind person would do. "Legolas." She whispered.

She wanted so much to look into his eyes, but knew she would give herself away. She heard the noise he made in his throat. "Sorry Atavus. Our rescue plan didn't go exactly as we thought it would."

"Estel." She called out.

"Yes. I'm here." He answered.

She set a grim look on her face shoring up her emotions. "This didn't work in Dol Guldur. Why do you think it will this time?" She said icily.

"Because this time I don't have a Nazgul standing over me telling me not to kill them. You will break just as you did in the Misty Mountains. You were willing to give me anything to save him. I remember, and you will do it again." He taunted in her ear.

"It was my life you wanted then. That was different. I would gladly give that for them. But other lives are involved this time. I will not betray them. I won't let you turn them into what you are." She said with determination.

"How do you know they wouldn't be better off as orcs?" He asked. "Why should they want to remain freaks like you?"

"Why don't you ask your son what he wants?" She lashed out with all her anger. He let go of her backing up. She turned facing him, but still not looking up.

"What do you know of him?" Ugluk asked.

"Van is a wonderful child. He'll be a good healer one day, just like me." She taunted. She could hear Manveri whispering no over and over, begging her not to say anything to endanger the boy.

"He is an orc." Ugluk shouted.

"He's a throwback, and he wants to remain one." She shouted back.

"No." He said quietly shaking his head, and then turned to run from the room. The other orcs that were present chained her to the wall, and then left to continue their work. They pushed Manveri from the room.

"Hide Van, Manveri." She whispered knowing the woman's sensitive hearing would hear the words.

She waited for the sounds to die and then finally turned her face to her friends. The stone slabs they were on were tilted at an angle so she could clearly see their faces. "You two are a sight for sore eyes." She looked into each of their eyes smiling a pitiful smile. She chuckled to see the looks on their faces as they realized she could see them.


	7. Chapter 7: Secrets Revealed

**Disclaimer: **Atavus is mine. The rest belong to Tolkien. What a cruel world.

**Review Responses: Happy Friday the 13th friends.**

_Lintered_: My you're getting to know me well aren't you?

_Karone Evertree_: Thanks for the well wishes. Well I have a breakfast date with my hubby tomorrow, and then he's going to grill out tomorrow night. So I'm making out real good on this anniversary.

_Larien:_ Yeah they had to get captured. He's gotta have leverage, doesn't he. As far as the ambush well it makes sense that there would be orcs on the level that he was holding a prisoner on. Just because Atavus didn't see much of them it doesn't mean they are not there. And since Manveri acted slightly flustered when he told her not to go down that day it tipped him off. I probably should have told that part from Ugluk's point of view instead of Atavus'. It would have explained more. Sorry about the cliffie. It just seemed so darn dramatic the way I left it. I couldn't help myself.

_ashlyns_: Please don't keel over from suspense. Here's another chapter to tide you over. But then again, what if I just install more suspense? Hmmm.

_Slayer3_: If you could hurt someone by loving them too much I could see it happening. More as you command.

_ZELINIA_: Don't worry I'm a sad thirty something woman who has nothing better to do either. Besides for taking care of little ones. I'm glad you like Atavus. She seems to grow on people. The romantic tension is not actually intentional. I think it's my own feelings slipping in. But as I have said before this is not a romance. I don't think I could do justice to a Legolas romance. Besides friendship is more important to me. But don't worry I won't be stopping anytime soon. This story is in my head and it has to come out.

**Secrets Revealed**

"You can see." Aragorn said in surprise.

"Yes I can. But it's best if he doesn't know it." She said motioning to the door, where the others had just left.

"How?" Legolas asked.

"Blood is mysterious Legolas." She answered not wanting to go into a long discussion about being beaten again. She was tired of being beaten.

"What is going on here Atavus? What were you saying to him about others?" Aragorn asked still not sure if he had heard them right.

"It seems that without the influence of Sauron all new orc children are being born as throwbacks. Ugluk is collecting them, and any and all throwbacks no matter what the age. From what I've been told there are several being held in the lower levels. The woman who was here before is one, and so is Ugluk's son." It was hard for Atavus to think of her monster of a brother having a son, especially not the wonderful boy she had met, but he did, and it had to be told.

The news shocked Aragorn and Legolas. "Why does he want them? And what does he want from you?" Aragorn asked. "And why in Middle – Earth is he not dead? I remember you saying that his lung was punctured. That should have killed him. We knew there was a chance he'd survive, but when nothing was ever heard of him again, I figured he had to be dead."

Atavus looked down, feeling shame. She hadn't told them about him killing the warg, after she escaped from the Misty Mountain caves. She hadn't wanted to let them know that she had, had the chance to finish him for sure, but hadn't taken it. But they were her friends, and now they were captured by him yet again. She was responsible. And she owed them the truth.

"He is alive because I didn't have the stomach to finish him when I had the chance." She whispered. She heard Legolas gasp at her confession. "I didn't tell you everything. When I was bit by that warg it wasn't my own skill that saved me, or even luck. It was Ugluk. He threw my knife stabbing the warg. Then he collapsed. He was unarmed. I pulled my knife from the warg and could have easily finished him, but I just couldn't. I guess I spared him to prove that I wasn't like him. But he saw my eyes. He could see that I was changing. I don't know how he survived the wound I gave him, but now he believes that I know how to change the throwbacks into orcs, like I almost changed. I guess I knew when I left him that he would survive, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Now I see the error I made." She finished her explanation and sighed deeply. She felt horrible about misleading them so many years before, but she also felt relieved that she no longer carried the secret.

"No Atavus. If you had killed him while he was unarmed you would have never been able to live with yourself. You are not a murderer. It would have changed you beyond what had already happened to you. Don't regret your moment of mercy." Aragorn insisted knowing she was blaming herself for what was happening to them.

"That's where you don't understand me Estel. I don't know if I could have killed him even if he was armed. I have no feelings for him even if he is my brother, and I have imagined him dead hundreds of times. But truth be told I don't know if I could kill him even if I had to. This war we have been raging between each other has become so much a part of my life that I don't know what I'd do without it. By the Valar, I sound as crazy as he is." She admitted. She hadn't wanted to admit that to herself, but it was true. When she was with the orc, even though he hurt her she felt almost comfortable. She enjoyed making comments just to see him squirm.

Neither of her friends knew what to say about her admission. They both knew if they had the chance to kill the orc they would take it, but if he were their brother would they be able to do so?

"That doesn't matter now Atavus. We need to get you and the others out of here. Do you have any ideas?" Legolas suggested.

"I sort of thought that was why you two were here." She said sarcastically.

"Well yes originally." Legolas admitted. "But since things didn't work out as someone planned, we need an alternate idea."

"It was a good plan." Aragorn insisted.

"Yes well within about two days time if we don't figure out a way out we are either going to be dead, or trapped in here." Legolas reminded him.

"What?" Atavus had no idea what he was referring to.

"Oh right. You don't know that part of the plan. The King of Gondor has troops of men attacking this fortress intent on destroying it. It's a full out siege." Legolas said sarcastically looking to Aragorn. They were too far underground to hear the siege above them.

"It was a good plan." Aragorn insisted again. "Or it would have been if we hadn't been captured."

_

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry I know it's very short, but I thought the reunion so to speak needed to be separate. I know it's not very angsty, but I'm not through yet. Watch out for next chapter._


	8. Chapter 8: Playtime In the Pit

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

**Review Responses: **

**_Invisigoth3_**: Orcs do tend to spice things up don't they?

**_ashlyns_**: Take a couple aspirins. You'll be just fine.

**_manveri mirkiel_**: I know, I know, I know, I update too quick sometimes. I just can't help myself. Honestly I thought that maybe your pc had died on you, but then again schools almost out so I know what you are doing.

Chapter 4: Well yes they are mature around everybody else, but around each other they can cut loose some. Plus childish sarcasm works really well to try to diffuse a tense situation. And yes the orcs were eating leaches. You asked.

Chapter 5: Sorry no healing, just able to see the future.

And yes my orc is complex. A true villain is always complex, unless they are just an outright psychopath. And you've told me before that you felt sorry for him, way back in Blood. Are you going soft on my orc?

Yeah I thought if Veri looked like Legolas maybe it would make Atavus trust her a little more. Sentimental value.

I see Veri as sort of a leader to the throwbacks. She's strong willed, and they are willing to follow her, so of course that would have put her in the limelight when he chose someone to care for Van.

I'm not saying that Veri is antisocial. It's just that she has known two species. Throwbacks and Orcs, and as you can guess the orcs aren't that great to her or her kind, so she tends to trust the throwbacks but no one else.

Chapter 6: I figured that Aragorn would expect Atavus to say something totally somber and elflike so I had to throw him a curve ball and mention his pets.

During the first two fics Atavus was basically scared. She wasn't as confident. But by this time she has matured some do to her experiences, plus she knows what to expect from Ugluk. So I thought to myself that she would be more confident and in control by now. That's the way I wanted it to come off.

Actually I hadn't thought about the pippin thing. Thanks for reminding me. Mrhaha.

Chapter 7: My Friday the 13th turned out to be pretty bad. I lost my wedding ring. It's somewhere in my house, but where I don't know. I searched high and low. And I never even took the darn thing off. It just disappeared. Explain that.

As I said they can really be themselves around each other. As a matter of fact they count on it.

**_ZELINIA_**: Yes Legolas can be sarcastic when he wants to be. We saw some of that while he was around Gimli. Rasputin orc, now that's cool.

**_Slayer3_**: And manveri wonders why I update so quickly. With people begging and bribing me with ice cream what does she expect? Hint, hint. (I need my ice cream fix.)

**_Karone Evertree_**: Thanks. I know how you feel. I went all winter without getting sick and now I think I've got the flu. The only time I feel half way decent is when I'm doped up. So this chapter may not be completely coherent, and might be a little later than usual. We'll see.

**_Larien_**: About the siege, Aragorn had Gimli order the men to completely destroy the fortress. Since they are so far under ground there is a distinct possibility that the whole thing could collapse leaving them trapped or dead. Now does it make more sense? Probably not, since I'm making little sense right now anyway. And yes I actually hate to see Ugluk go, but there really isn't a place for his kind anymore. So I'll just have to find a new adversary for Atavus in my next fic.

**_Lintered_: **Yes you are. Sorry this is late. Life is becoming difficult.

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry I know this chapter is late compared to what I normally do, but things have gone from bad to worse for me in the last few days. First I lost my wedding ring, which still hasn't turned up no matter how hard I search. Then I got sick for a couple of days. Then both my kids got sick. And on top of all that I had four teeth pulled today that were broken during a car wreck I had three years ago. I'm normally not suspicious, but this all started on Friday the 13th so go figure. Let's see if I can manage to write this chapter without anything else going wrong. (Nocks on wood, throws salt over shoulder, and rubs lucky rabbits foot. Hey has anybody seen my four-leaf clover?)

**Playtime In the Pit**

They had been talking quietly when Atavus made a shushing sound. "He's coming. I would know those steps anywhere." She turned her head to the side curiously, hearing something else. "Manveri is with him." She whispered. She silently prayed that Manveri had been able to find Van before Ugluk had.

He pushed the woman into the room before him. Atavus kept her stare forward and blank but she could see the anger written across his face.

"You stay in that corner. Do not make a sound." He growled at Manveri, and then turned his attention to Atavus. "You seem to know so much about my son, Sister. So where is he?" He shouted at her.

A wicked smile crossed Atavus' lips at his words. "Now how should I know that Brother? I have been manacled to this wall all day. You know that. It isn't like I could spirit him away myself." She chided in a sweet voice.

Even through her blank stare she could see his lips start to tremble at the suppressed anger he held. She tried not to smile even broader.

"She was guarded closely. She had no chance to hide him. Yet he is no where to be found." He said stepping closer to her. The smile was wiped from her face. Manveri had not hid him, but he was gone. Where could he have gone? She scanned her memories from her own childhood in the fortress. There were only so many places a small child could hide.

He watched the play of emotions on her face. He could see her bite her bottom lip in concentration. He was good at reading prisoners. And he too remembered times when she had hid from her orc captors as a child. They had never found her, until she left her hiding place for food or water. If anyone would know where he could be it would be her. "Tell me." He hissed moving in close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

"I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person. Why don't you go form a search party?" She suggested.

"Not the answer I wanted to hear." He said backhanding her. Her head snapped to the side from the force of the hit. She licked her lip and could taste blood where it was split. She stared blankly forward again.

"Sorry. It's the only one you're going to get." She hissed back at him.

He reached up to hit her again, but thought better of it turning around and staring at the two figures tied to the stone tables. "I guess other forms of persuasion are necessary."

Atavus could see where he was heading and felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Oh does this mean we are through playing? I always enjoyed our little games." She taunted hoping to turn his attention back to her.

He chuckled then. "It won't work this time Sister. I'm wise to your tricks. It's your friend's turn to play. You just sit back and listen. You'll enjoy this." He made his way to the tables and stood between them looking from man to elf. "I wonder which one to start with first? You were really partial to the elf last time." He said pulling his dagger and running it along the exposed skin of Legolas' jaw line, drawing a razor thin cut there, that immediately ran bright blood.

"Why don't you untie me and we'll see how good you really are with that knife." Aragorn suggested trying to draw the orcs attention away from his friend. "Oh but then again we did that once, and you ended up on the loosing end didn't you?" His taunt continued.

The orc turned smoldering eyes upon the human. He remembered his near defeat at the hands of the human. That would not happen again. "Then again Sister I have heard that you've been living with the humans for many years now. Maybe this one holds a dearer place in your heart. After all it was he that rescued you from Dol Guldur." He smiled down at the human and then drove his blade into his upper arm. Out of surprise and pain he made a small distressed sound in the back of his throat.

Atavus wanted to scream out, but knew she couldn't give her secret away just yet. But she heard the sound. "Leave them out of this Ugluk. This is between you and me."

"Oh but they brought themselves into this when they decided to enter my home, and sneak around trying to take my rightful possession, you." The orc said in a sweet tone. "So which do you want to see me torture? It's so hard to choose. Come to think of it the human traded you to me for his friend here back in the caves. Maybe the affection is not as great as I guessed." She could see the pained look those words caused in Aragorn who had never quite forgiven himself for leaving her to find help for Legolas.

"You know damn well that I traded myself to you for the elf. The human wasn't involved in that decision. You certainly do enjoy twisting events to match your already twisted mind don't you?" Her anger was getting the best of her. She could feel her blood boiling. She could hear it pulsing in her ears. If she weren't careful she would soon make a mistake.

"You see things your way. I'll see them mine. Right now I see a great deal of pain for your two friends." He said turning to Legolas and slicing the knife across his stomach. She could see him do it but Legolas made no sound so she knew she must not react. "You know there was something that I learned very young about torture methods. Sometimes it's not enough just to settle for the simple tortures." He smiled and then sliced his knife along the top of Legolas' left thigh. Again she held her tongue and attempted to keep the blank stare upon her face. "You see some beings like your elf friend here have a high threshold for pain." Smiling again he ran the knife along the other thigh. She could see the blood soaking his pants and tunic, but still remained as still as a statue. She silently wished inside her head that Legolas would make some sound so she could break her own silence. "So you have to resort to other methods. Not as common." He placed one last knife stroke across the elf's chest, and then replaced his knife in its scabbard.

"What are you talking about Ugluk? I'm tired of this game." She broke her silence. Legolas had never told them what had made him scream in the Misty Mountain caves, but she began to realize that maybe she would find out soon enough.

"This." He said holding out a leather pouch. She could see Legolas staring above himself at the ceiling. She knew he had to know what was in the pouch, but he would not make a sound or a move. "This is simple salt, used for seasoning food. But when put to different uses can be quite effective in certain settings." The orc poured some of the salt into his hand and clamped it down on the wound across Legolas' stomach. She could see the pained expression on her friends face, and knew he was in excruciating pain.

"You filthy orc. Leave him be." Aragorn yelled struggling against the straps that held him tight. He too could see the expression on Legolas' face.

Legolas knew Atavus could see the pain he was in so it didn't really matter if he screamed or not, but he had been broken once by the foul beast, and he wasn't about to let it happen again. He refused to make a sound to give the beast the satisfaction he wanted. He was stronger and had faced greater evils than the orc before. He would not cave in again.

"Not in the mood to make noises this time elf?" He asked placing salt on the chest wound and then using the palm of his hand to grind it into the open skin. He could feel the human behind him struggling against the straps trying in vane to free himself.

Manveri stood in the corner in utter shock at the sight before her. She could try to help the elf, but where would that get her? She'd be either dead or manacled to the wall next to Atavus. And then who would search for Van? She had to put Van first. The boy was as a son to her, and he needed her.

Atavus watched in horror as the orc repeated the treatment to Legolas' left thigh. She could see the raw pain present in his eyes. She didn't realize that tears had started to slide down her cheeks. She could take it no more, and she could feel her grip on sensibility slip. "Stop brother. Please!" She begged. He looked to her then and saw the pleading look in her eyes that had replaced the blank stare. He could see her eyes dart back and forth from him to the elf and then back again.

He dropped the bag of salt and then made his way to where she stood. She quickly lowered her head realizing what she had given away. But he would not allow that. He grabbed the hair on the back of her head and pulled back, bringing her face up to where he could see her eyes. "He made no noise. You can see." His eyes stared into hers. His face was but mere inches from hers.

She knew she would not be able to deceive him any longer. "So I can. Imagine that." She said with fake wonderment.

"How long have you been fooling me?" He demanded.

"Maybe a few minutes, maybe all along. You'll never know." She said sweetly.

"One of these days I'm going to kill you Sister." He growled.

"I know you will. But not before I kill you." She said sweetly again.

She was surprised then as he let go of her and left the pit without another word. She looked to the door where he had left but a few moments before. Would he never cease to surprise her?

_

* * *

Author's Note: Yes I made it. I had to do it. I had to get some elf torture in. It's been way too long._


	9. Chapter 9: A Brother's Rage

**Disclaimer: **If you want them you can't have them. They are mine. (Strike that just kidding. They are not mine.)

**Review Responses: **

**_ZELINIA_**: So complicated is my orc. Read manveri mirkiel's review from the last chapter. She is beginning to understand him all too well. You know that's scary. I still like the rasputin reference.

**_Invisigoth3_**: Ugluk passed ticked a long time ago.

**_manveri mirkiel_**: I give you permission to skip school tomorrow, but I'll deny it if you tell anybody. Camp, that's something I never got to do as a kid. My parents thought it was a stupid idea. Always wanted to go though. I hope you enjoy. And I promise I won't send out a search party.

Oh pippin, manveri will be away this weekend. You want to play?

New York super fudge chunk. Slide over and share girl.

Oh my you understand Ugluk way to well. Either that or you are reading my mind again.

Yes I looked everywhere for that darn ring. I even took the washing machine apart. Knowing my luck I threw it in the trash. And my husband is only romantic when it comes to one aspect of our marriage and since this is not an R rated fic, I won't say any more. I am feeling much better now. Just a little bug. One kid is a lot better and the other is on the way, so we will survive. But thanks for the cheers.

You'll have to read more to find out about Van. That's all I'm saying.

Well I've never rubbed salt into a wound but I did find out that salt water will make rub burns, or chafing heal faster, and it takes the fire out. But it's not just regular salt water. I found sea salt water works the best. I used to live in Florida. We went to the beach about three times a month. I never thought of trying salt on a cut before. I bet you build up quite a tolerance for pain that way.

I like tying my fictions together by bringing up unresolved matters from the past. Makes people think.

Yes Ugluk is beginning to read his sister well. Too well. And no I did not forget Manveri. She is very much a big part of the next chapter.

You can beg all you want but this is a roller coaster ride you can't get off of. Emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other.

**_Slayer3_**: Whatever manveri mirkiel says ignore her. More ice cream. She's taunting me. Not fair. Oh, chocolate chip cookie dough, my fav. Have I ever told you how much I love you?

**_Karone Evertree_**: Man I wish I could remember what exams were like. Too long ago. But any who where did I put those wargs? I couldn't help the title, it just sounded so hilarious. I had to.

**_Lintered:_** You know you guys are free to try some of my torture techniques on pesky teachers if you want. I won't tell a soul.

**_Larien_**: Yeah I missed my elf torture. Now I need some human torture. Must have my fix. The mental torture was fun but he isn't hurting enough. What you think? My ring was cracked on the underside where the bands were joined together. I figure it must have broke completely off while I wasn't paying attention doing some kind of housework. My greatest fear is that it ended up in the trash. I'll never get it back if that's the case.

**_ashlyns_: **I like begging. Here you go.

**Author's Note**: Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been having trouble concentrating, but I finally got back into the swing of it today. Warning: Definite cliffhanger.

**A Brother's Rage**

"Manveri, help him please." Atavus nodded towards Legolas. She could see the shocked look in the woman's eyes.

"He never made me watch before." She whispered. "It's harder than being tortured yourself."

"I know. Believe me I know." Atavus closed her eyes as all the memories of watching her friends being tortured came back to her. "Please Veri. He needs help." She pleaded.

Manveri snapped out of the daze she was in. She crossed to where the elf was strapped to the table.

"Veri can you remove the straps? Estel is a healer. He can help Legolas." Atavus suggested.

She turned her face towards Atavus. "Ugluk would not like that." She said shaking her head. "He didn't even give me the keys to your manacles this time.

"Veri please. I know him too well. He expects it." Atavus assured her. "It isn't like they can escape. The outer door will be locked, and they aren't going to leave me anyway."

"Okay." Veri agreed reluctantly removing the straps holding Aragorn, who was by Legolas' side immediately. "I'll get the supplies you'll need."

Atavus hated the look she saw in Manveri's eyes. The woman was worried about Van, but had no way of knowing how to find him. And now she was helping people she really did not trust.

Aragorn removed the straps holding his friend and then checked the wounds. "I know how much it hurts Legolas, but truthfully the salt may be a good thing. I've heard of those who use it to heal wounds."

Legolas spoke for the first time since the torture had begun. "That's barbaric Estel."

"I know, but it works. Atavus are you all right?" He wished he could go to check on her but was still too worried about Legolas to leave his side.

"Never been better." She smiled at him.

"What kind of games are you playing with him?" He didn't understand the bantering he heard between the woman and orc.

"The only one that is keeping us alive. I have to keep Ugluk just slightly off balance to reduce the amount of damage he does. He gets just angry enough with me to strike me and then storms off in a huff. He does it almost every time. As long as he feels he's in control he continues his torture methods. But when I anger him enough he feels out of control and then storms off." She explained the pattern she was establishing with her brother.

"I'm beginning to wonder just how much the orc is actually in control. It sounds to me like he's doing exactly as you want him to. But how do you know him well enough to understand his inner workings?" Aragorn asked holding a cloth over one of Legolas' wounds that was bleeding more heavily than the rest.

"Because he thinks like me." She said ironically.

"You've got to be joking." Legolas said staring at her.

"No I'm not. I am the same. I am in complete control until I start losing my temper. If it goes too far then I walk away to regroup. He does the same." She didn't tell them that she was planning on goading him so far that he'd make a mistake. She knew that her plan could end up in their favor or with her dead. Either way she was keeping the idea to herself.

But her friends were more perceptive than she had hoped. "And what happens if he doesn't walk away one of these times?" Legolas asked.

"Well maybe he'll make a mistake." She suggested.

"Or maybe he'll kill you." Aragorn suggested angrily that she was placing her self in that kind of danger on the off chance that the orc might make a mistake.

"It's all I got for now Estel. If you have a better idea I'd love to hear it." She suggested.

At that moment Legolas sat up very alert. "The orcs are coming back."

Atavus strained her ears. She could hear many footsteps approaching. "There are at least ten." She whispered. She could see her friends tense. The odds were against them. She scanned the room they were in, but saw nothing that could be used as a weapon. Aragorn and Legolas' weapons had been removed from the room before. "You can't fight them."

"We can try." Legolas said shakily standing and moving over in front of where she was manacled to the wall placing himself between her and the door. Aragorn joined him. Though it touched her that they would want to protect her, she wanted to kick them both for being so foolish.

As the orcs entered the room they did not move. The orcs stood on one side of the room facing the friends, not rushing them yet. Ugluk entered the room taking in the sight before him. "What do the two of you think you can do against all of us? Do you think you are protecting her? You're not. You're just killing yourselves."

"I can't think of anything better to die for. She may be your sister by blood, but she's ours in the heart." Aragorn taunted. He could see the angry look that passed over the orcs face.

"So be it. Subdue them." The orc ordered.

The orcs rushed the two friends following their orders, making sure not to kill the two. Aragorn and Legolas had no such qualms about hurting the orcs. They had knocked five of them unconscious before the remaining five simple overpowered them. They were taken back to the stone tables and strapped down again.

Ugluk sent the other orcs from the room. "Is she worth all this?" He asked standing next to Aragorn.

"If you weren't such a cold hearted monster you'd already know the answer to that, beast." Aragorn said struggling against the straps that held him. He was so close that if his hands were free he could reach up and strangle the orc.

Ugluk grabbed Aragorn's hair holding his head still. He drew within mere inches of Aragorn's face. "You let me know if you still feel the same after I'm done with you." He whispered pulling up on the hair and slamming his head back to the stone.

Aragorn spit in the orcs face. "Why don't you take these straps off and we'll settle this once and for all?"

Ugluk wiped the spit from his face. "Now that would spoil all my fun." He smiled then drove his fist into Aragorn's stomach.

"Figures." Aragorn gasped as he got his breath back.

"Stop Ugluk. What good is this doing you? You are sure to know by now that I won't tell you what you need to know." Atavus yelled out hoping to pull his attention from her friends.

"I'm doing this for the pure pleasure of it, dear Sister." The orc turned to face her, and she could see in his eyes that he was no longer trying to get information. He was just punishing. He had snapped, but he hadn't made a mistake yet.

She had gotten what she planned but it wasn't working out as she had wished. "Isn't it more fun to play with me though?" She taunted, willing to try anything to increase their odds of survival.

"That's not going to work Sis. He has this coming." He grinned evilly and turned back to Aragorn hitting him hard in the chest.

"You are a coward then." She said just loud enough for him to hear. He heard her and stopped punching the human. He did not turn around yet. "I can't believe I've been comparing you to one of us." She said as if she was speaking to herself.

"A freak like you." He snorted.

"Yes like me. You're intelligent aren't you? Most orcs are not. Considering the fact that I wounded you enough to kill you but you still live, I've wondered if your healing ability is advanced like my own. Other than looks you are more like a throwback than an orc." She said the words as an accusation wanting to flare his temper at her even more.

He swung around and strode to where she was hanging. "Don't you ever say something like that to me." He said roughly grabbing her chin and squeezing.

"If the words fit." She said with a smirk crossing her face.

"Don't you understand the position you and your friends are in girl?" He yelled and then back handed her. "Let me show you something." He quickly removed the manacles from her hands and then drug her forward slamming her against the stone slab Legolas was strapped to. She could see that he was having a hard time remaining conscious.

"Let her go." Legolas said struggling against the straps and his bodies' own weakness.

"Look at him Atavus." Ugluk said forcing her to lean over the table close to her friends face. "He is going to die." The orc growled shaking her roughly.

Then he drug her around to the other table. She was trying to fight back but he was much stronger than her, and his rage was fueling his strength. He forced her to lean over Aragorn as he had with Legolas. "And he is going to die."

He pulled her up spinning around and throwing her the few feet to the wall. She hit hard knocking the breath from her. "And you are going to die." He did not give her time to recover as he descended on her punching her in the ribs. She had never seen such rage before. Normally she could hold her own in a fistfight, but it seemed as if her own blows did not affect him whatsoever.

He shoved her to the floor and then viciously started kicking her. She could hear the angry shouts coming from her fiends, but what she heard the most was the words that Ugluk uttered over and over again as he beat her. "We are all going to die. We are all going to die." She couldn't be sure, but she thought to herself that even though he could have been speaking of those in the room it seemed more likely that he was speaking of his race in general. Because they were going to die. And there would be no little orcs to replace them. Why she knew that's what he meant she wasn't sure. But she was sure of his meaning.

She began to lose consciousness and welcomed the relief from the pain, but she heard an unexpected voice, that brought her back to reality. It was the small high voice of a child.

"Stop, please stop. You're going to kill her." She turned her face to the voice and saw Van standing in the doorway. "Please don't kill her." She could see the tears streaming down his face.

Ugluk stopped kicking her and turned to face his son. She could see that he didn't know what to say to the boy.

Van ran to where she was huddled into herself on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her placing himself between her and his father. He turned to the orc defiantly. "If you kill her you have to kill me too."

"No Van." She tried to pull him away from his father, but the boy would not budge.

He tilted his chin up staring directly at his father. "It doesn't matter to me to die Father. But I will never be like you. I hate what you are. And I hate you."


	10. Chapter 10: The Vision

**Disclaimer: **If they decide to give them to me I'll let you know. But for now they aren't mine.

**Review Responses**:

**_ZELINIA_**: Thank you. I pride myself on my torture methods. Man that sounds bad. Oh well I guess if the shoe fits. I have to admit when I'm backed into a corner I turn to sarcasm as a defense. So that's where Atavus gets it. Little Van is a lot like Atavus too.

**_Slayer3_**: Proof positive. Bribery does work.

**_Lintered:_** Yes I had to leave the horrible cliffy. And no I don't believe that you are that cruel at all. (Cough, yeah right, cough.)

**_ashlyns_**: Begging is good.

**_Larien_**: I have this bad habit of making people pity my bad guys. But just a little. Yep no more babies and eventually the race will disappear. Eventually.

Are you right or are you wrong? Well I'll just say that sometimes looks are only skin deep. Actually I partially meant Aragorn's lines to Ugluk to be taunts. I just see him as wanting to antagonize the orc into a true fight.

Yes Van is very brave, even though he is naïve in thinking that he could stop Ugluk from killing her. He hasn't gained Manveri's slightly cynical attitude from living the life of a throwback yet. He is a hero in his heart.

**_Karone Evertree_**: No, no wargs this time. Van makes such a brave little hero doesn't he? I just love him. He is what all little boys dream of being, but never get the chance.

**Author's Note**: _Warning another cliffhanger. Sorry_.

**The Vision**

Minas Morgul had only one clean water source. Manveri entered the well room. The room was actually a vertical shaft that ran from the upper levels down to an underground spring hundreds of feet below. Each level had access to the shaft. Almost the entire floor of the room was open shaft. There was just a small ledge that ran around the sides. She tossed the bucket that was attached to a stake with a long rope down into the spring below.

Her mind raced through the events that were unfolding in her life as she pulled the bucket back up. She wanted to help Atavus and her friends, but she had always just looked out for Van and the other throwbacks. Besides what could she do against the orcs? She was too confused.

She stared at the wall across from where she was kneeling pulling the bucket up hand over hand, when it started. Her eyes glazed over as the vision took her.

Van was kneeling in front of Atavus facing his father. She could see that Atavus had been beaten badly.

"It doesn't matter to me to die Father. But I will never be like you. I hate what you are. And I hate you." She heard the small child's voice tremble at the words.

Then her view changed as if she was seeing from the eyes of the child. She could see the angry glare on the orcs face. She could see the orcs hand rise to strike the child. She felt the blow as if it had happened to her. But then she felt two strong arms surround her pulling down and away from the orc. A body flew over that of the child and impacted with the orc overbalancing him. She could see Atavus land on top of the orc pounding his face with her fists. How she had summoned the strength for the attack was a mystery to Manveri. But she watched in horror as the orc gained the upper hand rolling her over and pinning her to the ground.

She saw blood splatter the wall next to where they were as he punched her in the face. She could see the insane look in the orc's eyes. The boy's words had finally made him snap. She could hear the screams of rage from the man and elf on the tables but that did not deter the orc. She watched as he withdrew his knife and poised it above the defenseless woman.

She wanted to scream out, to do anything to stop what she was seeing, but she could not control the small body she was seeing this horror from. The knife plunged deep into Atavus' chest, and she could see the light in her eyes fade. She could see the rise and fall of her chest cease. She was dead.

The orc stood pulling the knife from her lifeless body and turned towards the boy.

Manveri heard the splash as the bucket she had been hoisting up fell to the water below. Her eyes cleared and it took all the balance she possessed to keep from falling into the shaft before her.

She reached her hand up and felt liquid on her face. She half expected it to be blood from where the orc had struck the boy, but when she pulled her hand back it was covered with her own tears. She stood turning back to the hallway leading to the torture pits. She started running, praying she could reach the room in time.

She stopped abruptly looking into the room. She could see the back of the orc before her. His hand was raised. She couldn't tell if he still held the knife. She didn't look around the room. She didn't want to see Atavus' dead body. She didn't want to see the grief stricken faces of her friends. She just knew she must save Van at any cost.

She could see the orc's short sword in its scabbard on his side. She rushed forward and with a fluid motion grasped the sword pulling it from the scabbard. He had felt the movement at his side and swung around facing her. But he was not quick enough as she plunged the sword into his chest. He howled in rage and pain as she pushed the sword through to its hilt. In her shock at her own actions she forgot to let go of the sword and was pulled to the floor as he fell backwards.

She looked over the orcs body and saw Van's shocked face. He was alive and well. That's all that mattered to her at the moment. But she was surprised to see two strong arms wrap around his chest pulling him back comfortingly. Her gaze followed the arms up to the shoulders and then on to the face. Atavus sat behind the boy holding him, whispering soothing words to the boy.

"But…but." Manveri started to say in shock.

Atavus looked to her not understanding the sudden paling of her skin, and the confused expression of her face. "Manveri you look as if you've seen a ghost."

"I saw him kill you." Manveri whispered.

Atavus and Van both realized what she meant. She heard the sob rip from the boy's throat. He was devastated. He knew Manveri had done what was necessary to save them but the orc was still his father. He had said he hated him, but he hadn't. And it felt wrong that he didn't.

Atavus didn't have the strength left to fight the child as he pulled away from her and bolted out the door.

"Van." Manveri screamed trying to grab him, but he was too fast. She was about to stand and follow him when the room began to shake.

They all heard it begin. The structure was failing from the assault above. Manveri didn't know about the attack taking place on the upper levels. Pieces of ceiling began to crumble around them "What is that?" She whispered looking around.

"That is my men breaching this structure." Aragorn spoke up. "We must leave here immediately."

"But Van." Manveri said looking back to the open door the boy had fled from.

"Veri you know where the others are being held. Get Ugluk's keys. Take Aragorn and Legolas with you. They will help you free the others. I think I know where Van is. I'll find him." Atavus knew where she would have hid if she was the boy.

"No I can't leave him." Veri pleaded.

"Veri we aren't going to leave him. He's upset Veri. He won't come with you now." Atavus didn't want to make her friend feel guilty, but it was the only way to reason with her. She bent down pulling the keys from Ugluk's belt and tossed them to Veri, and then helped her to remove the straps confining her friends. Aragorn helped Legolas across the room to the open door. He looked back to her not sure of her idea.

"I'll meet you outside. I promise. Please Estel get Legolas out." She could see the difficulty her friend was having moving. He had lost too much blood and was very weak.

"I'll hold you to that promise. Don't make me come back in here." He said smiling.

She smiled back at him and then pushed them through the door.

She took one last look at the orc. Her anger had been replaced by what she could only consider to be pity. Things could have been so different. She new then in her heart that he had been a throwback like her. Just because he had the physical characteristics of the orcs did not change what was inside him. But years of being trained to the hatred of the orcs had taken from him what could have been his only salvation.

She turned away from the sight heading out the door and in the opposite direction of where her friends had gone. She knew all the hiding places in Minas Morgul. She had searched them out as a child, and she knew of only one on the level they were on.

As she entered the well room she looked around at the walls surrounding the shaft seeing what she was looking for. On the far side of the room there was a small boulder, which she knew covered a hole in the wall that was little more than a three-foot crawl space. She remembered the ledge leading around the shaft as being larger when she was a child, she thought as she slid along it trying to get to the other side, which was wider.

She grasped tighter to the rough wall as the room began to shake from another barrage up above. Rock from hundreds of feet above began to fall down the shaft narrowly missing her. "Ilúvatar please let the boy be in that crawlspace." She whispered

After the shaking had stopped and the rocks had stopped falling she moved to the ledge and made her way to the boulder pushing it aside. She kneeled before the crawlspace and could see movement towards the back. "Van. Honey is that you?" She reached in placing her hand on the boys trembling arm.

"Go away. This is my hiding place." He said petulantly. She could hear the tears in his voice.

"I know Van. It was mine when I was your size. But it is too small for me now." She said stroking his arm. "I know you feel safe here Van. But you can't stay here. Did you feel that shaking before? The whole roof is coming down. We have to leave."

"I don't want to leave." He whimpered.

"But Van. Don't you want to see what else this world has to offer you?" She knew she could pull him out of the hole, but then she'd lose his trust. After everything he had been through she couldn't do that to him.

"Like what?" He asked suppressing his sniffles.

"Like beautiful lands, delicious foods, and wonderful animals that are friendly." She said trying to think of all the things little boys liked.

The boy wondered at her words. The only animals that he had ever seen were wargs and they definitely were not friendly. "Really?"

"Yes really. All you have to do is come with me, and I promise to show you all those things and more." She wondered for a moment if her ploy had worked as he was silent, but was surprised as he jumped into her arms, almost knocking her backwards.

"Lets go." She whispered ruffling his hair. Then she turned around meaning to head back around the ledge, but froze seeing something she had definitely not expected.

_

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Author's Note: I think I better hide again. Between the vision and the cliffhanger you guys are going to kill me. Anyway just one more chapter to go on this fic. So hold on to your hats. The next one is going to be a surprise._


	11. Chapter 11: Promises

**Disclaimer: **No matter how hard I try not mine.

**Review Responses**:

**_Slayer3:_** I like our little arrangement. Story for ice cream. If only everything in this world was that easy.

**_Larien_**: See my author's note below. It explains the confusion. Originally I planned a cliffhanger after the vision, but I knew how many death threats that would get me so I continued on. Poor Van already has a lot to live with. Too much for any child. Yes if Manveri had not had that vision Atavus would be dead. Are you being suspicious? That's a good question.

**_Lintered_**: I know I take the cake at being cruel. It's the orc in me.

**_Karone Evertree_**: Yes you make perfect sense. I always wanted to write a premonition that would really shock people.

**_ashlyns_**: Sorry I already did it.

**Author's Note – Everyone Please Read**: I think I need to clear up a little confusion that I have created. I have stated that Ugluk is a throwback, and it has brought up some questions. Atavus, Ugluk, and Van all have the same blood flowing through their veins. Half orc, half elf. That is what gives them their special powers of healing, but they have slightly different genes. Atavus and Van have predominantly elf genes, which make them look like they do, and Ugluk got predominantly orc genes. Now an imbalance of the two blood types does change their appearance somewhat, but not drastically. That's what caused Atavus' eyes to turn black in Journey. So for instance if Ugluk was to somehow turn up with more elf blood than orc his eyes might change to green like Atavus', but that would also negate his healing abilities like it did hers. But since he's dead we don't really have to worry about that do we? Does any this make sense? I hope so.

**Promises **

Atavus could not believe her eyes. It was not possible. How could he still be alive? She could feel Van tense as he stared across the open shaft at his father. "I guess I should have checked a little closer." She said placing the boy on the ledge behind her.

"Manveri was very close, but she missed both the heart and the lungs." He said pulling the short sword from the center of his chest. She could see the pained look in his eyes, and heard him gasp. "I can't say if anything else is damaged though."

"It won't take you long to heal though will it?" She asked already knowing the answer.

"No it won't, but you already knew that, didn't you?" He asked leaning against the rock wall just inside the doorway to the well room.

She just nodded. "So what will it be? Are you going to kill us, or just wait for the roof to cave in and do the job for you?" She asked.

"You promised me that I would be the one to kill you, so you've really got to survive this siege." He reminded her of her words from long ago, when he had saved her from a warg.

"Yes I did. Didn't I? But for some reason I don't think you are just going to let us walk out that door." She suggested.

"Maybe if I'm right behind you." He said smiling weakly.

"So do I get a sword in the back as we leave this place?" She said sarcastically.

"That's not my style. I face those that I kill." He answered.

At that moment another barrage was set off above. Atavus turned covering Van as more rock and debris fell from the upper levels. When she turned back she could see Ugluk lying on the opposite ledge turned towards the wall. And her heart sank as she stared at the tunnel they had entered from, seeing thousands of pounds of rock piled to the tunnel ceiling. "Ohhh." She groaned in frustration. They were to late.

Ugluk rolled back towards them then looked to where Atavus was staring. His laughter echoed through the well room.

"Why do you consider that to be funny?" She said her voice dripping with anger. "That was our only escape. Looks like we all get to die here together anyway."

A tiny whimper was heard from behind her. She turned to Van and picked him up trying to comfort the frightened boy. "I'm sorry Van. I know I promised to take you out of here, but now I don't think I can do that." She whispered.

"I do not think it is funny that we are trapped in here together. What I think is funny is that we are trapped her and I am the only one who knows that there is another way out." Ugluk said continuing to laugh.

"There's another way." She said skeptically expecting a trap, or just another of his cruel jokes.

"In that far corner to your left, one of the stones sunk into the wall about shoulder high. Turn it. A secret passage is there leading out of the north side of Minas Morgul. If you take the boy you can possibly make it out. They are concentrating the barrage on the south and west sides." He explained.

She wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. But if there were a way to get Van out she would try. She walked to the corner trying the stones until she found one that would turn. As she turned it the wall next to it receded and slid to the side. She looked down the dark hall and could see that no damage had been done to it yet. She turned back to the orc. "This has been here all this time."

"Longer than I have." He answered.

She looked back to the tunnel. She had hid in this room hundreds of times as a child and had never known that she could have escaped if she had wanted. She turned back to him. "Are you coming?" She asked.

"The ledges are too narrow. I'd never make it to that side of the shaft." He said looking around the room. "Not in the condition I'm in."

"I could help you." She suggested not believing her own words.

"No. If we both fall who will get the boy out?" He said staring at his son. Van was standing next to the wall staring down the shaft. At his words Van looked up at him with a look of wonder on his face.

"But I've never left this place without you." Van said. Atavus wasn't sure if the boy was afraid of being in trouble, or frightened of leaving his father behind.

"That's okay. I belong here Van. You don't. Go with my sister. She will take care of you." The orc said looking away from his son. "Now go. That's an order." His voice became gruff.

Van turned away from him and walked to the open tunnel mouth, but turned before he went in. "I don't hate you. I didn't mean it." He said quickly and then rushed into the tunnel.

"I know." Atavus heard the orc whisper. Then his voice grew stronger. "Now don't you get your self killed freak. Remember your promise."

"I'll remember, …….brother." She said turning and leaving him behind, following Van. There were many things she would remember.

* * *

The orcs had all began to flee the crumbling fortress, but most never made it past the dwarf and men who were laying siege. Gimli could not hold his delight when he saw Aragorn pulling Legolas out the front entrance of the fortress. Legolas was bloodied, and Aragorn looked bruised but they lived. "Where is she?" He asked looking around for Atavus. There were at least a hundred people who looked like elves leaving the fortress, but no Atavus.

Aragorn looked at Gimli in concern. "She's not out yet. It took us a long time to free the others. She should have come out before us."

"We have to go back." Legolas insisted trying to pull away from Aragorn to turn back to the fortress, but just at that moment the walls around the entrance collapsed bringing it all down in front of them.

"If you're going back in there, you'll be doing a lot of digging, master elf." Gimli said with a sad look covering his face.

Manveri had been listening to the conversation, standing next to Legolas but she had a far off look in her eyes. "We don't have to go back in. Follow me." She whispered taking off around the North side of the fortress, which had not been destroyed yet. They followed her.

As they rounded the corner Van jumped in Manveri's arms. Atavus walked up behind him and ruffled his hair. "I'm glad to see you all made it out okay." She smiled then saw Aragorn and Legolas before her. Her aching heart began to swell seeing the two she had missed so much. She rushed to them folding both of them in a hug nearly knocking them down. "You know I've been wanting to do this ever since you first got here." She said as the tears coursed down her cheeks.

She knew it had been only a few months since she left Rohan, but it felt like a lifetime since the two people who she considered to be her closest family had held her. Then she corrected herself. She now had two more family members to care for. Van would need her, and even Veri who knew nothing of the world outside Minas Morgul would need her. And she needed them too.

"How did you get out?" Veri asked, looking along the North wall until she saw the entrance to the secret tunnel.

"We had help." Van said turning to smile at Atavus.

Atavus smiled back. Van would be all right. He had lost the orc he called Ugluk that day, but had gained a father in his heart. "Yes we did." She whispered.

**The End** _

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Author's Note: Yes I know it's sappy, but I have pitied Ugluk so long that I couldn't just leave him as all bad. So they all got a happy ending sort of. Anyway I have a couple of ideas for new stories, that do include Atavus, but nothing completely concrete yet, so it may be a week or two before I start a new one, but I promise there is more to come. At least three more stories in my head bouncing around. I just need to work it all out._

_And thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. (Especially those that bribe me with Ice Cream) And thanks to my evil twin, who contributed a wonderful character to my story. I hope you liked what I did with her._


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